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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23947882">Fallen Angels</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrince84/pseuds/Bannor'>Bannor (ThePrince84)</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Compilation of Final Fantasy VII, Final Fantasy VII (Video Game 1997), Final Fantasy VII Remake (Video Game 2020)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>F/M, Humor, Music, Romance, Slice of Life</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-05-01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-08-10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-03 01:14:53</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,734</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23947882</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/ThePrince84/pseuds/Bannor</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Slightly AU. The events at the Nibelheim reactor happen differently for Sephiroth. Four years later a mysterious man with silver hair and mako eyes is living in the Sector 5 Slums and getting on Aerith's nerves.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Aerith Gainsborough &amp; Sephiroth, Aerith Gainsborough/Sephiroth</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>48</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue: Fall</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Fallen Angels by Bannor</p><p>AN: I'd consider this a bad fanfiction. But I am self quarantined with nothing to do but play Final Fantasy VII Remake and play guitar(poorly) and this came out of it. Sometimes you have to follow your muse wherever she takes you.</p><p><em>"Just like a raindrop, I was born baby to fall". -</em>Bleed Me an Ocean by Acid Bath</p><p>Prologue: Fall</p><p>Sephiroth smiled and stretched out his arms as he descended into the depths of the planet beneath the Nibelheim Reactor. He was returning to the lifestream, to the planet that was his birthright, he was going to win. His wounds would be healed and he and Mother would go to the Promised Land. His triumph was inevitable.</p><p>*SMACK*</p><p>Sephiroth wheezed from burning lungs as he felt his body explode into a rainbow of pain. The general willed his mind to push pass the shock and discovered that he was no longer free-falling and he was not in the lifestream. He had landed on an outcrop of rock, protruding out from the chasm beneath the reactor. He tried to sit up, but his body refused, the wounds from his fight, and the impact had taken their toll on the once invincible general.</p><p>Sephiroth could only manage to turn his head and see the head of his mother, JENOVA, laying beside him. Her head was still motionless but Sephiroth could feel her disappointment, after so many years he had finally met his mother and had thoroughly failed her. Breathing became difficult as blood poured into his lungs, his vision was getting blurry, his time had come. The once hero of Shinra could only summon the strength to turn his head away from his disapproving mother. Summoning up the last of his strength, Sephiroth, the last Cetra, cried out his last words.</p><p>"Shit"</p><p>Then everything was darkness.</p><p>Beyond time, there was a voice.</p><p>"This is an absolute failure, get rid of it…. Dispose of it with the other garbage."</p><p>Then nothing, until there were more voices.</p><p>"Over here, I see someone….. I think he is still breathing."</p><p>Then there was a white blinding light.</p><p>"I don't believe it, but he is alive!"</p><p>End prologue</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 1: Early Mornings</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 1: Early mornings.</p><p>Dawn was a special time for the Sector 5 slums, the great plate lamps had yet to turn on and the faintest Ray's of the sun were able to pierce through the cities walls. This small amount of natural light created deep hews of yellow and orange. It was a rare moment of beauty and Aerith Gainsborough did not waste it. This was her time to pick the day's flowers before taking the first train to sell them on the top side of the plate. With her basket full of freshly pick tulips, lilies, and warm fresh bread from her mother, the young flower girl exited her garden and made her way into the still sleeping slums.</p><p>Aerith preferred taking the earliest train, she would get ahead of the morning commute and find the best spot to hawk her flowers. Perhaps she would get lucky and sell out early or find a shop that would take her supply and could return home before nightfall. But she knew it was wishful thinking, people seemed to be less interested in flowers these days. At least she could enjoy the quiet uneventful early morning as she walked through the sleeping slums to the train station.</p><p>Her tranquility was destroyed by the loud heavy sounds of a distorted electric guitar. Aerith stopped dead in her tracks, clenched her first and made a detour, she knew who and what was making such noise this early. She walked up to a lone shack resting in the rubble just outside of the slum town, built out of discarded iron and steel sheets it was almost camouflaged into the rest of the landscape, if not for the electric noise coming from inside.</p><p>The flower girl kicked in the ramshackle steel door and stood in the doorway, trying to look as intimidating as her slight frame allowed her. Inside she found the culprit who had stolen her peace, the man she had helped save five years ago. He was sitting on top of his bed, his back propped up against the wall, in his lap was the instrument of her misery, a faded blue electric guitar. A cord extended from its base to an amplifier on the floor which had been broadcasting his loud strumming and plucking. His clothes were ragged and simple like most who lived in the slums, dark brown trousers and a light green long-sleeved shirt. Silver bangs arched down his forehead and covered most of his upper face until he brushed them aside and looked at his guest with green mako eyes.</p><p>"Good morning Aerith." His voice was calm, soft, and low but carried an authoritative tone as if he were more than a poor young man in slums trying and failing to play the guitar.</p><p>"Gabriel, do you have any idea what time it is?" Aerith stammered out as she waved her arms in the air, articulating just how absurd it was that he was playing his instrument this early in the morning.</p><p>"This is when there is the least demand for power" Gabriel replied calmly and plucked a few strings with his fingers, making sharp ring come out of the amplifier.</p><p>Aerith understood what he meant; electricity was not a luxury in the slums. It was something the whole town shared. In about another hour every television, including the giant monstrosity in the middle of the main street would be tuned into Good Morning Midgar, followed by a few hours of Shinra and Friends. While Gabriel's amp probably didn't need a lot of electricity, if it tried to pull more than was available, there would be bigger problems then loud obnoxious noises at the crack of dawn.</p><p>Aerith frowned finding that he was not being too unreasonable, but still needed to justify her anger. "Do you have to play so loud; you'll wake up the entire town."</p><p>"Well, you are already awake and dressed," Gabriel observed while he tried to finger out a riff and failed.</p><p>"I am going topside to sell flowers and I'd apricate if my background noise wasn't a dying Chocobo." Aerith clenched her first, knowing that this exchange was probably making her miss the first train.</p><p>"Oh, you're going topside. Would you mind picking up the latest issue of SludgeCore Magazine for me?" Gabriel asked as if it was the same as asking her to pick up a loaf of bread from the store.</p><p>Aerith spun around and stuck up her nose as she began to walk out of his shack. "I don't think my boyfriend would approve of me buying you gifts." She teased back.</p><p>"Tell him I said hi," Gabriel replied nonchalantly.</p><p>Aerith responded by slamming the door shut to his shack as she walked out.</p><p>She cursed under her breath as the wailing started back up as she walked away. She wondered why she had bothered; he was not the worst thing in the slums and he probably wasn't bothering anyone. Perhaps it was because they had vastly different tastes in music. Aerith liked her music like she liked her flowers, bright, colorful, and warm. While Gabriel enjoyed a metal sub gene called Sludge, which to her sounded like someone vomiting up toxic waste. Its lyrics were all dark and edgy, graveyards, death, and loud screaming, Aerith would rather escape into a lover's ballad all the same.</p><p>Of course, she did not have a boyfriend, she had been through her first love, first kiss, first promise, and first heartbreak. She did not want to go through that again and circumstances being what they were, a relationship was out of the question. Getting too close to her meant getting on the Turks radar and she could not put someone else's life in danger.</p><p>Aerith had to sprint to reach the station before the first-morning train left for the topside. She boarded a near-empty car just as the train departed the station. Finding a comfortable seat Aerith stared out of the side window and caught a glimpse of the world outside of the city's slums until the train dove into the metal innards of Midgard. They were not so unalike, the train and her, they could not change their paths, their destinations, always being pulled to Shinra and nowhere else. She was trapped, she knew that resisting would only get people hurt. All she could do was enjoy the time she had and maybe help the people she cared about.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 2: The Rest of the Day</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 2: The Rest of the Day</p>
<p><em>"Just one man beneath the sky, Just two ears, just two eyes"</em> - Childhood's End by Pink Floyd</p>
<p>Gabriel could not help but chuckle as Aerith slammed his door shut as she left. He strummed a chord for her a few times to say goodbye, knowing it would antagonize her. He then got back to learning the tabs for a song he had found the other day. He was able to get his fingers in the right place but moving them from the different frets was still a challenge. It felt like his every attempt was worse than his last, but he continued, practiced made improvement. His persistence continued until light pierced through the small holes in his roof, indicating that the plate sun lamps had turned on and that morning officially started.</p>
<p>"That is enough fun for today." Gabriel told himself and unplugged his amplifier and laid his guitar against the side of his shack and got ready for work. Today he was going to work with the salvage crew, they were planning on tearing through a collection of discarded mech suits in the junk fields. Gabriel had a knack for identifying military hardware that would sell for a bit more than the usual scrap metal. How he had acquired that talent, Gabriel did not know and did not want to know. Things were better left unanswered in the slums.</p>
<p>He had been living in the slums for the past 4 years, he had no idea how he had gotten there or who he was before. Gabriel was not even his real name; it was something the people of the slums had called him. They had found him out in the scrapyard, barely alive and seemingly discarded along with the rest of the junk. Maybe they thought he was going to be their savior, an angel sent from above. But all he had done was become another scavenger amongst the junk, who played guitar, poorly.</p>
<p>Before leaving his shack, Gabriel picked up the other possession that made him stand out, his sword. It was a long thin slice of metal, about as long as his 6-foot frame. One side had been sharped down to form an edge leaving the other side blunt. Its hilt was just unwearable T-shirts wrapped around the end to make a comfortable grip. Gabriel had found the long steel scrap in the junkyard and felt drawn to it, he took it home and commissioned the slum's weapon's dealer to get it sharpened into a sword.</p>
<p>Personal protection was a necessity if you wanted to work in the scrapyards. It was the domain of monsters and the occasional gangs that wanted to operate outside of Don Corneo's reach. Gabriel had been forced to use it a few times when the monsters got too confident. Where he had learned to wield this kind of sword without cutting off his own head, he was not sure, a reflex from his past life perhaps? That was another question he ignored.</p>
<p>With his sword strapped to his back, Gabriel walked down to the slum to meet up with the rest of the scavenging crew. He made an impressive sight; he was a tall man with a broad chest and shoulders. His silver hair cascaded down his back, except for two bangs that had rebelled and went down his face instead. He certainly looked the part of an angelic savior, but he just wanted to a quiet normal life like everyone else.</p>
<p>Gabriel waved to the group of men standing near the main entrance to the junkyard. They were the regulars at this yard and banned together to tackle large jobs. He exchanged small talk while they waited to see if anyone else was joining them that morning. Saul the unelected lead of their group, a man who appeared to be twice Gabriel's age, went over the plan. With no objections, the group set out into the junkyard hoping to find a good haul and not any trouble.</p>
<p>Eight hours later the salvage team celebrated with food and drinks by the food carts settled in the train station courtyard. They sat on a massive cable reel that had been set on its side to make a large round table. Their luck with the abandoned mech suits had been fruitful, finding plenty of military circuits and precious metals that had sold well. The haul was not enough to make them rich or to make their lives easier, but it was better than most days and no one had gotten hurt, which was worth celebrating.</p>
<p>Gabriel nursed a beer while he listened to his comrades laugh and tell stories. Music was playing out of the jukebox by the vending machine as people socialized and forgot their troubles for a while. It was a typical evening at the train station, people were getting off from their jobs and wanted to blow off steam before they went home.</p>
<p>"I don't understand why you stick around here," Saul said as he sat beside Gabriel with a paper plate full of food and two bottles of beers for them. "Junkyard scavenging is for old men, you've got a strong back and a competent mind, you could find work anywhere."</p>
<p>Gabriel shrugged. "I don't have anywhere I want to be." He spoke honestly. "This is as good as any."</p>
<p>Saul nodded sagely and took a sip of his beer. "Well you're the only one who wants to, most kids your age or younger, get out as soon as they can. This sector is for orphans and people too old or too poor to be anywhere else. This place is an end, not somewhere people want to spend all of their life."</p>
<p>"I've thought about it. But I like it here, it is peaceful enough, no one bothers me." Gabriel admitted, hoping that would satisfy Saul.</p>
<p>He did not mention the issue the main reason why he would not leave. Gabriel was a fit young man who knew how to use a sword, that meant he was military. He had been left out here to die, he was only alive now because Saul had been leading a crew in the junkyard that day. Gabriel knew someone wanted him dead and if he stuck his head out too far, someone would know he was not. Which could lead to people looking for him and then someone could get hurt, most likely someone innocent. So, eking out a living in the Sector Five slums meant no one got hurt and he could live the life he wanted. Not a bad trade-off.</p>
<p>Plus, there was the matter of his eyes, mako green meant that he had been exposed to mako energy and was connected in some way to the Shinra Electric Company. Nothing good ever came out of Shrina, they always demanded to have the upper hand. Gabriel got a few stares from the Slum residence about them, but no one bothered him about it. He was not dangerous, so no one ask too many questions, this was the type of place to be forgotten. But there was one person who would not so easily forget him, and she was walking upright behind him.</p>
<p>"Good evening, Gabriel." Aerith greeted him with a sweet smile dripping with mischief. "I didn't expect to see you here, didn't make enough money to meet your Wall Market girlfriend?"</p>
<p>"Hello again Aerith." Gabriel said flatly and not turning to face her. "You know I don't go to Wall Market."</p>
<p>"Aww, is that face too scary for the Wall Market girls?" She teased while leaning over him.</p>
<p>"Well, you're in luck because I got you that magazine you asked for!" Aerith's voice rose so that everyone in the courtyard could hear them.</p>
<p>She then slammed a magazine down onto the table, but it was not the latest edition of SludgeCore. It was a Men's fashion magazine, with a pretty young man on the cover giving doe eyes up at Gabriel. There was a light chuckle around the table as Gabriel stood motionless, letting Aerith get the final blow. She stuck out her tongue at him and twirled away, racing home with an empty flower basket.</p>
<p>Gabriel set his beer bottle down on the magazine, obscuring the feminine young man staring up at him. He turned to Saul who was barely holding back a smile. "Alright" mumbled Gabriel. "So almost no one bothers me."</p>
<p>"Is there a reason the kindest girl in the slums has it out for you?" Inquired Saul.</p>
<p>"I got on her nerves this morning." Answered Gabriel dryly and watched as Saul's eyebrows raise. "Not like that. I was playing my guitar this morning and she didn't enjoy it."</p>
<p>Saul nodded, glad he would not have to teach the lessons he had learned from his first marriage, yet. "Well, there is only one thing you can do."</p>
<p>"And what is that?"</p>
<p>Saul smiled. "Play better."</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This chapter turned out a lot longer than my previous work, I did some experimentation and I ended up having more to say. I can't guarantee upcoming chapters will be shorter or longer. Also, this chapter took longer to write as I had writing opportunities with deadlines fall into my lap two weeks ago. I plan to put these chapters out a bit faster. But as a Fanfiction writer, I can make no guarantees.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Chapter 3: Aerith's day</p>
<p><em>"That's all I'm trying to get some rest." -</em> American Tune, Paul Simon</p>
<p>Today was going to be Aerith's day, no flower selling, no topside jerks asking for a date, no electric guitar. Just a quiet, relaxing day in her garden, no distractions just her and the flowers. She started her day by sleeping in until late in the morning, skipping her regular routine of getting up before dawn. When she finally got dressed, the plate lamps had already turned the slums into a bright day. Aerith didn't even bother putting on her red bolero jacket, it was a pink sundress only day.</p>
<p>She took a lawn chair up to one of the rock outcrops overlooking the spring that twisted around her garden. She took her time finding the right spot and then sat down, closed her eyes, and relaxed to the tranquil sounds of her garden. This is what she wanted; this is what she deserved, a nice day of nothing but relaxing peace and quiet. And it was peaceful and quiet for many hours.</p>
<p>Until.</p>
<p>"Aerith! Aerith!" Came the cry of happy children as they raced up the garden towards the flower girl, blissfully unaware of the peace they had shattered.</p>
<p>She kept her eyes closed, perhaps if she pretended to be in a deep sleep they would eventually go away. But they would not give up, surrounding her chair and calling out her name repeatedly. Finally, she opened her eyes and blinked several times as she forced out a smile. These were the orphans, the only children in the slums. While they had interrupted her peace, she could not be mean to them. Aerith was a regular at the Leaf House Orphanage, either bring flowers to brighten up the building or spend time with the children. She loved children, she just wished she didn't want to deal with any today.</p>
<p>"I hear you, what's up?" She tried to sound cheerful and pleasant despite their annoyance.</p>
<p>"Aerith! Aerith! You won't believe what we found!" Cried Roger, a young blonde boy of eight.</p>
<p>"A swarm of giant hornets invaded the junkyard behind our hideout!" Continued Matilda, a nine-year-old girl who didn't want Roger to get all Aerith's attention.</p>
<p>"They were really scary, so we went and got Gabriel to get rid of them!" Henry a ginger boy of 10 continued the story. "He is so cool; did you know he has this really long cool sword?"</p>
<p>Roger had to be the one to tell the next part. "So, we brought Gabriel to the lookout, he promised not to tell the grownups and he sliced up the bugs!"</p>
<p>"It was so cool." Declared Henry. "He used his sword like Swooosh, Kwsssssh, Slisssh!" His hands making epic sword movements with each sound effect. "Then, bug guts everywhere!"</p>
<p>"Thank you, Henry, that was very graphic," Aerith told the ginger boy, who beamed up at the apparent praise of his storytelling.</p>
<p>"Well, I am glad you got Gabriel to take care of that, it sounds you like guys had an eventful day." Aerith hoped this was all they wanted and could leave her in peace for the rest of the day.</p>
<p>"But that's not all!" Cried, Matilda. "Gabriel had to go, he said he had to clean off all the bug guts. But then we noticed that the river by our lookout was getting bigger. So, we went to investigate and the wasp and been damming up the river!"</p>
<p>Aerith raised a brow at their discovery. "That's strange, wasp make nests, not dams." She spoke to herself, but it had caught the kid's interest.</p>
<p>"That's what we said! But they were using the junk to clog up the river, they got halfway done before Gabriel killed them all." Informed Roger.</p>
<p>"We were going to ask Gabriel about it, but we couldn't find him again."</p>
<p>Aerith sighed and stood up, while she wanted a day off, she had to make sure that whatever the children found wasn't going to hurt them. Damming up the river could cause problems for the slum and people could get hurt. She had a responsibility to make sure these kids were safe, they trusted her enough to come to her with their problems.</p>
<p>"Alright, show me what they were building, and let's make sure it isn't dangerous. "Aerith relented.</p>
<p>The children smiled and eagerly lead her out of her garden and towards their hideout. Aerith hoped that this would be a quick distraction and she could get back to her day of rest. She hoped that her trip into the slum town wouldn't provoke more favors. Aerith was a kind and gentle soul who wanted to help the Sector 5 Slums in any way she could, but she wanted a day off.</p>
<p>When they arrived at the river behind the slum kid's junkyard hideout, Aerith realized these murder hornets did in fact make dams. They had been building a wall out of metal and wood from the junkyard and cementing it together with some sort of hardening yellow sap. Only half of the river had been dammed, causing the river to swell, but the gap in the dam was causing the river to churn faster as it escaped.</p>
<p>The wall looked wide enough to walk on and after a few cautious steps, Aerith walked onto the partially built dam. She was dumbfounded by the structure, in all her years of living in the slums she had never come across dam-building wasp. But there was an obvious answer, Shinra. One of their scientists had gene sliced some insects and when it turned into a failed experiment, they had thrown it down to the slums with the rest of the garbage. She had been around enough Shinra scientists to know that they wouldn't care if an experiment endangered the slums. In a way, she felt sad for those dead wasps they were just another victim of Shinra's greed.</p>
<p>It was in that moment of reflection that the chunk of wood and metal Aerith was standing on gave way. She was hurled quickly downstream on top of the floating debris. Her hands swung wildly to keep her balance, but she couldn't stop herself from falling on her butt, which was preferable than falling into the cold river. The current quickly pulled her away from the view of the horrified children, in minutes she was pulled father into the junkyard than she had ever been before.</p>
<p>Aerith let out an exasperated cry and clenched her fist in frustration, this was supposed to be her day of peace and quiet, instead, she was floating down the junkyard river. She thought about just jumping off and swimming to shore, which would work except that she was just wearing her light pink dress. She knew that if it got wet it would be practically see-through and would cling to her body, leaving absolutely nothing to the imagination. She would rather washout to sea then have to walk through the slums like that.</p>
<p>She thought things could not possibly get any worse until her raft turned a corner and Aerith saw Gabriel taking a bath in the river. Waste deep in water, his bare toned chest exposed as he used to a cloth to bath himself, his long white hair was soaked into a thick mat. When their eyes locked with each other they froze in place, for a moment they stared at one another while Aerith slowly floated pasted Gabriel. The sudden surprise catching both off guard and leaving themselves dumbfounded.</p>
<p>"Do you need help?" Gabriel asked not knowing what else to say.</p>
<p>"No, I'll just keep floating along, yes please help!" Aerith cried out finding her voice.</p>
<p>As soon as she replied Gabriel dove into the water and began swimming towards her. Aerith was surprised as most people living in the slums didn't know how to swim, there was never an opportunity to learn. But when she saw Gabriel's bare pale butt breach the surface, her thoughts switch to the realization that he was completed nude. Her face turned a shade of red, but she didn't stop looking in his direction.</p>
<p>Gabriel reached her before she could enjoy him more and he grabbed a hold of the raft and stopped it moving. He must have been standing on the riverbed as only his head and shoulders were above the water now, slowly he began to push her raft out of the center of the river towards the bank.</p>
<p>"Thanks," Aerith said in relief and allowed herself to relax.</p>
<p>"It's nothing really," Gabriel said dryly, more of his bare chest was showing as he pulled the makeshift raft closer to shore.</p>
<p>"What were you doing here, it's a long way for a shower?" Aerith arched an eyebrow as she probed, feeling safe enough to tease.</p>
<p>"The children asked me to help them with a problem, it turned out to be giant wasps. It got messy. Do you know how long it takes to insect guts out of this hair?" Gabriel motioned to the thick wet mane of silver hair behind his head.</p>
<p>Aerith laughed as the tension dropped and she allowed herself to relax, they had never been this friendly before. It wasn't that Gabriel was a bad person, they just never spent any time together, their lives were incompatible. Aerith spent much of her free time making the slums a better place, usually with her flowers. Gabriel kept to himself, made a living salvaging junk, and played that terrible instrument. Still, it was nice to know that there was a little bit more to this man than the reclusive junk scavenger.</p>
<p>Gabriel pushed the raft up to the shore, wedging the side into a large rock to keep it stable and from floating away. Aerith stood up and made an unnecessary dramatic leap off the ramp to the dry shore. She gave herself a cheer having come through that ordeal without getting embarrassingly wet. She turned to thank Gabriel but found he was still in chest-deep water, his chest and abs on display.</p>
<p>"Well, are you going to come out?" Asked Aerith, enjoying the view.</p>
<p>"I….I don't think it would be appropriate," Gabriel replied calmly.</p>
<p>"Oh," Aerith "remembered" that he was completely naked. She wrapped her fingers around her eyes. "I won't peek, I promise."</p>
<p>But she did peek, she dared to spread her fingers just far enough to see through. She watched as he slowly walked out of the water and saw everything. Gaia's embrace he really was an angel! She tried to hide her blush with her hands, Gabriel didn't mention if he noticed or not as he walked past her. Aerith kept her face concealed as he walked away, she was not sure how far away from his clothes were but pretended to keep up the façade of being polite.</p>
<p>Gabriel returned fully clothed, though a little damp, his hair was still a long thick wet mess. Aerith dropped her hands hearing him return and composed herself into the proper lady her mother wished she would be.</p>
<p>"Thank you, Gabriel, for helping me. As a reward, I will allow you the pleasure of walking me home."</p>
<p>Aerith tried to sound formal and aloof, but there was no mistaking the silliness in her voice. She began to walk towards the slum before Gabriel could accept her offer.</p>
<p>"You are too gracious," Gabriel replied in his usual calm tone and followed behind her.</p>
<p>Aerith couldn't stop grinning as they walked back to the slums. Her feud with this man had taken a delicious turn after seeing him naked, it was turning out to be Aerith's day after all. It was almost nighttime when they arrived at the entrance of the slums. The sun lamps were beginning to power down, creating brief dusk before turning off completely. She stopped once they had walked into the slums proper and turned to Gabriel. He looked a little dashing, the way he stood with his sword strapped across his back. Aerith wondered if she had a thing for men with swords, perhaps it was the stolen glances she had taken from him in his moment of vulnerability.</p>
<p>"Gabriel, thank you for walking me home. Would you care to join me for dinner at my home?" Aerith tried to sound like a proper lady, but the sun lamps shut down and she squeaked at the sudden moment of darkness before the slum's lights turned on.</p>
<p>"You can spend the night in the guest bedroom, if you'd like, I wouldn't want to trouble you with walking home in the dark." Aerith's tone turned sincere.</p>
<p>Gabriel allowed a slight smile and almost took up her offer, but he quickly remembered why he couldn't, and the smile vanished. "Thank you, Aerith, but I'm afraid I'll have to decline."</p>
<p>Aerith cocked her head, surprised at his refusal. "Are you sure, you would turn down a free home-cooked meal? Do you think there is something wrong with my mom's cooking?"</p>
<p>"I am sure your mother is an excellent cook, but it's getting late and I have an early start tomorrow," Gabriel replied calmly and stepped back towards the direction of his house.</p>
<p>"Suit yourself, more for me." She replied and turned to walk home, taking the slight rejection in stride.</p>
<p>Thus, ended Aerith's Day, things didn't go exactly as she wanted them to, but she still enjoyed herself.</p>
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<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 4: After Work Adventures</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>This started out as the first part of my next chapter but it kind of morphed into it's own chapter. It is fluff, but you write what you've got in your head. But don't worry, things will be changing in the next chapter.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Aerith rested on a park bench just outside of Sector 7's Upper Plate shopping district. Today had been an especially successful day, she had sold all but two of her flowers and had time to relax before her train arrived. She usually saved the last two followers for special encounters that crossed her path before she went home. So much of her life was a routine that she treasured any spontaneity and if a free flower made her a new friend or marked a special conversation, the better.</p><p>It had been several weeks since her misadventure down the slum river and things had returned to as normal as the slums could be. The orphans where apologetic, fearing they had put her in danger and swore to be more mindful. But the green leaf orphanage was barely getting by and Aerith found herself doing more to keep them stable. With so many others impoverished, Aerith knew she could not complain about her own predicaments. Despite how helpless Aerith felt at the whims of Shinra, she felt compelled to do whatever she could to help others.</p><p>She had not seen Gabriel sense their riverside encounter, nor had she heard the wailing of his guitar during her morning commute. Not seeing him made sense, their lives did not intersect in the slums, she usually came home before or after the salvage crews had finished for the day. But not hearing his awful instrument was a noticeable new development. She did not know a lot about Gabriel, but she knew he treasured that plastic noisemaker and he would use every chance to pollute the air with its noise. Could he have moved away, unlikely as there was nowhere else to go. If he had gotten hurt, she would have known about it, she was sure she would.</p><p>Aerith stood up, determined to do something spontaneous before her train home arrived. She headed to the music section of the shopping district, where all kinds of music CDs and instruments could be found. Gabriel had mentioned a magazine, SludgeCore, she was going to find it and figure out why he liked that terrible music. He had saved her from incredible embarrassment, she would at least try to understand the one thing she knew about him.</p><p>She tried the largest outlet store she could find, thinking that the bigger the store the larger the selection. But the cleric apologized when she asked about that magazine and regretfully informed her that type of music was not available at this store. She tried another store and received the same disappointing response. It seemed like the bigger and popular stores were selling the same kind of music, pop groups, and singers. Almost all of them coming out of Shinra's Entertainment Division, while Aerith did not really enjoy Heavy Metal, she was pleased to know it was not controlled by Shinra. She decided to change her approach if she could find a store that sold electric guitars, then she could find Gabriel's magazine.</p><p>Aerith found herself at the steps of "The Beautiful Downgrade" a purple-painted building, with neon signs of CDs, instruments for sale, as well as depicting lewd devils and fairies. Electric guitars were in the display window, she could not tell if they were like what Gabriel played or if it mattered. But with an aesthetic like this and so far away from the main stores, it was not affiliated with Shinra. The flower girl took a moment to gather her resolve and stepped into the building, not sure what she would find inside.</p><p>She was greeted with the smell of incense; dim lights enveloped the store and soft purple carpet cushioned her feet. Aerith felt strangely comfortable inside the store's mellow atmosphere. The flower girl wondered if the outside aesthetics were there to keep certain people out. If you could handle the outside imagery, then the store did not want you shopping here. The only other person she could see in the store was a man standing behind the counter, hunched over and writing in a small notebook. Long reddish-brown hair cascaded down and over his shoulders, neat black glasses rested on his nose. He looked bookishly smart, but his faded jeans and a black t-shirt with some band logo perceived him as a metal music connoisseur. The man finally noticed the girl with the empty flower basket standing in the entrance, she did not mind him for staring, she was clearly out of place with the store's atmosphere. She had been leered at enough times to know between genuine curiosity and adulterated intent, this was the former.</p><p>"Can I help you with something?" The clerk's voice was surprisingly soft and gentle, with no trace of suspicion as to why someone looking like her would be in a place like this.</p><p>"Yes, I was wondering if you carried a magazine, it's called Sludgecore?" Aerith stepped forward as she asked, feeling comfortable enough to venture deeper into the store.</p><p>"Yeah, magazines are at the end of that aisle, Sludgecore should be there, we got the latest issue a week ago." He pointed in the direction of where she could find them and went back to writing.</p><p>Aerith nodded and moved walked to the pointed direction, she found SludgeCore with other Heavy Metal music magazines, many of them covered with fantasy artwork of violence, monsters, and scantily clad women. Sludgecore's cover font was a green toxic liquid shaped to spell out letters. She quickly leafed through the magazine but could not find anything that would differentiate it from her previous notions of Heavy Metal. To Aerith, it was all just electric guitars and yelling, perhaps the man behind the counter could help her.</p><p>"Excuse me," Aerith asked as she approached him again. "Could you tell me what Sludge Metal is? I'm sorry, my friend likes that type of music, but I can't understand what it's all about."</p><p>The store cleric nodded and put down his book before replying. "Sludge Metal is…" He paused and looked at her. "You don't listen to Metal, do you?"</p><p>Aerith shook her head innocently.</p><p>"Yeah, I figured, ok its…." He paused trying to think up the right words. "You know how Heavy Metal sounds fast right?"</p><p>Aerith nodded her head, thinking she was following him.</p><p>"Well not all Metal is fast, some Metal is slow, and you can make it real slow if you want. Sludge is kind of a combination of fast and slow Metal. Like, a song can be slow but have parts that are very fast. The vocals tend to have a lot of screaming and growling, the guitar riffs are very distorted, make sense?"</p><p>Aerith continued to nod, but not sure if she really understood.</p><p>"Screaming and growling huh?" Aerith thought of Gabriel yelling into a microphone and then growling like an animal. She had never heard him raise his voice before, she wondered how that might sound.</p><p>The beep of Aerith's wristwatch knocked her out of her daydream, it was her alert for the train schedule.</p><p>"Shit, I need to run. Thank you!" Aerith yelled and made for the door, but she stopped and turned and quickly walked back to him.</p><p>"Thank you for helping me today, I just wanted to know a little more about my friend's taste in music. Please accept this." Aerith handed the cleric one of her two remaining flowers. Once he had a hold of it, Aerith dashed out the door, she did not have any more time to spare.</p><p>"Thanks," He said as he examined the yellow flower. He admired the plant before planting it into a glass of water and went back to his poetry.</p><p>Aerith made it to her train and made it back to the Slums without incident. The train station had its usual crowd of people relaxing after a long day or those making their way to Wall Market. She stopped to look around the makeshift tables to see if Gabriel was relaxing with his work friends. She did not see him and continued up the path to the slums and her home.</p><p>She wondered why she bothered worrying about him, they were not close, and she had plenty of other friends. It could be that he was one of the few people in the slums that did not need something from her. His friendship did not come with expectations of favors or help, he was just there. It certainly did not have anything to do with the fact that he was and attractive. Or that she was a single young woman and wanted more intimacy than just a platonic friendship. It was not that the memory of his naked masculine body was etched into her mind. No, it was because he did not ask her for anything and nothing more.</p><p>The sight of her flowers in the moonlight brought her out of her thoughts as her home came into view. She could smell her mother's home-cooked dinner beckoning her to remember all the good that was in her life. Aerith smiled, today had been a good day, she had sold her flowers and had learned a little about her friend. Perhaps she would surprise by mentioning some bands or song lyrics and catch him off guard, whenever she saw him again.</p><p>She hoped it would be soon.</p>
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